Every Time I Hear Your Name
by 3VAD127
Summary: AU. Ron hears a song on the radio and remembers.


Disclaimer: Kim, Ron, and all other chars I may or may not use in this fic belong to Disney.

A/N: A short little AU oneshot I thought up while listening to the radio. You'd be amazed how much country music can inspire you. Sorry if it's a little short.

**Every Time I Hear Your Name**

Ron Stoppable rode along the lonely dirt road, wind through the open window whipping his blond hair askew. At 25, Ron had become the youngest chef to have his own TV show. He had decided to pursue a career he loved, which just so happened to be cooking. After he had gotten that one-time shot on a TV station his junior year taking home ec., the offers had practically buried him. He had gotten invites to some of the nation's top cooking schools, deals on various TV stations for his own show, and even offers from some of the world's finest four-star restaurants, including several in Europe. Unfortunately, he was only sixteen; but he had written the stations and restaurants back telling them he'd think about it when he was 18 and through with high school.

And when he graduated high school, he had immediately gone to one of the most prestigious cooking schools in the world. From there, things had only gone up. He had a restaurant, a TV show, and he was planning on establishing a chain of fast-food Tex-Mex restaurants similar to Bueno Nacho. After the whole L'il Diablo incident, Bueno Nacho Corp. was forced to shut down due to "unsafe management," as the media described it. The bad publicity, plus the several parents that sued BN Corp., cast a dark shadow on the company, and an end was put to the establishment where Kim and Ron had frequented since they were kids. Ron, using the money from his Naco royalties (before BN shut down), had managed to open a restaurant all his own. His business was thriving.

He gazed over his sunglasses at the beautiful sunset. Ron stopped the car, deciding to climb out and watch the sun set. He sighed. Yes, everything in his life was perfect. Well, almost everything.

**(Flashback)**

_Ding dong_. It was May fifth, and Ron Stoppable was confident as he rang the Possible's doorbell. He waited patiently on the porch, the chilly nighttime wind nipping at his bare arms. But he didn't care. He had the most bon-diggity girlfriend in the entire world. And tonight, she was going to show him something special.

Mr. and Mrs. Dr. Possible answered the door. "Oh, hello, Ron," Mrs. Dr. P. said after seeing him there.

"Hola, Mrs. Dr. P.," Ron said cheerily. "Is Kim around?"

"Oh, yes, she is," Mr. Possible answered him. "She'll be down in a minute."

Just as he spoke, Kim walked out of her room into the upstairs hallway. "Hi, Ron," she said. She was wearing a dark green dress and black high heeled shoes.

"Wow, KP." Ron gaped. "You look... perfect." She really did. The light from the chandelier in the entranceway gave her red hair a sheen and her green eyes a sparkle. To Ron, there was nothing he would rather see. Or do, for that matter. You see, Kim had just turned sixteen. And for her birthday, the Drs. P. squared gave her a brand-new, shiny red sports car. And tonight, Kim was going to give him a ride. He sighed. How lucky he was to have Kim Possible, _the_ Kim Possible as his girlfriend!

Kim walked up to Ron and took his arm. "You ready?" she asked.

"Totally." They walked out of the Possible home, hand in hand, ready for a great time.

**(End Flashback)**

Ron sighed. It _had_ been a great time. He and Kim had driven around town, taking back roads and country lanes. They had also stopped off at a secluded cliff overlooking Lake Middleton for some... quality time. They hadn't done anything wrong, just a fierce make-out session. Anything more would have been... wrong.

As soon as they had started a relationship, both Kim and Ron agreed to save it for when they got married. They wanted the experience to be special. But unfortunately, they would never get the chance.

**(Flashback)**

Ron ran his hand through his messy blond hair. If only he could figure out this problem! Now in his senior year in high school, Ron had even more homework than ever. And with all of these college applications to fill out, he barely had enough time to see Kim. They had been going out since junior Prom, but it seemed like just yesterday that they had to go through the whole "L'il Diablo" fiasco.

He sighed, throwing his pencil at his bedroom wall. Why did calculus have to be so hard? He and Kim had no classes together, except for lunch. Kim had been able to get into all the advanced classes, while he had been stuck with the regular classes. Not that he was complaining. "Advanced Calculus" and "Applied Physics" were not two classes Ron would look forward to.

He looked up, noticing his pencil was stuck in the wall. _Great_. He got up and picked it out of its place in his wall. Suddenly, his phone rang. He looked at the caller ID, noting it was Kim. _All right!_ he thought. _Kim'll take my mind off of this killer homework_. Ron pushed the 'Talk' button and spoke into the speaker.

"Hey, KP," he said. "What up?"

"Hey, Ron," she said cheerily, albeit a little slowly.

Kim sucked in a breath, unsure of how to break the news to Ron. She hadn't seen much of him lately, and she was getting lonely. And then a thought had occurred to her. _He doesn't _want_ to see me anymore. That's why he's always making up excuses about "being busy doing his homework." _Kim sat rigid in her desk chair. She had just realized that weekend that Ron was obviously seeing someone else behind her back. She was breaking off the relationship. Call it jumping to conclusions, but Ron would never admit that he was wrong. He was too stubborn. And so, as much as it pained her to say it, she was dumping him, just like he had dumped her.

"Ron," she said, the emotion void from her voice. "I'm breaking up with you." _Well, that came out wonderfully_.

Ron felt as though he had been stabbed in the chest. "Wh-wh-what?" he stuttered. Surely, she was being mind controlled, under the influence of Drakken...

"Yes, Ron," she said icily. "I'm breaking up with you. I know about how you've been seeing someone else behind my back and making up homework excuses to see her."

"What!" Ron shouted. So much for the Drakken idea.

"Don't play dumb with me, Stoppable," she said coldly. "But then again, it wouldn't be too hard for you."

"Well, excu-u-use me," Ron said, almost as coldly as Kim. "I'm sorry if everyone in the world can't be as smart as a Possible."

"This isn't about being smart, _Ronald_," Kim said venomously. "If it was, you would've been dropped a long time ago."

Ron sucked in a breath. That had stabbed his heart. No, stabbed through his heart and pierced through all four major arteries. He didn't care anymore. If Kim didn't want to see him anymore, he didn't want to see her anymore.

"Fine then," he yelled. "Break up with me! See if I care!" He slammed the phone into its cradle. He knew it was a lie. He _did_ care. In fact, he cared so much that he didn't sleep a wink that night. Or the next. Or the next.

**(End Flashback)**

That night had been hard for Ron. And even less than a decade later, it still held fresh wounds. Kim had been his... perfect. The only girl he had ever wanted to date. The only person for him.

Ron climbed back into his SUV, deciding to drown his sorrows in country music. He started the car and turned up the volume to full blast. He drove along the road, the music filtering through the car, and wind from the open window whipping his blond mop every which direction.

_Finally got over that song of ours_

_Stopped chasin' little, red sports cars_

_To check the license plate and back wood drivin' by your place_

Ron remembered when he and Kim had first broken up. He had spent many days running after red sports cars to see if it was Kim coming back to him. It never was.

And the song...! That was the hardest thing of all. The music that was playing when they had first shown up at junior Prom, that was _their_ song. He had gotten emotional on more than one occasion when he had heard that song.

_Back making the rounds at our old haunts:_

_Honky tonks, restaurants_

Ron had no idea what a "honky tonk" was, but he felt like the song was describing. As a matter of fact, he _had_ been visiting back to the places he and Kim used to frequent. At least he didn't feel the pain as much anymore.

_And seein' some of our old friends;_

_It feels good to dance again_

_And I can finally smell your perfume and not look around the room for you._

Felix and Monique had been great supporters of him since he and Kim had finalized. They were just as confused as he was when she had broken up with him.

The cool desert wind through Ron's hair calmed him. It wasn't as hard to think about Kim as it used to be. Eight years changes people.

_And I can walk right by your picture frame and not feel a thing._

_But when I hear your name,_

_I feel rain falling right out of the blue sky_

_And it's the fifth of May, and I'm right there staring in your eyes_

Ron remembered when he and Kim had gone on that ride around town in her new sports car. It had been a perfect night.

_And nothing's changed, and we're still the same._

_And I get lost in the innocence of a first kiss,_

_And I'm hangin' on to every word rollin' off your lips;_

Ron Stoppable remembered. The Prom, the kiss, the talking afterward. It was their first night as an official couple.

OK, so that wasn't _technically_ their first kiss, but it had been their first one not under the influence of a mood-changing device. He sighed. If only...

_And that's all it takes, and I'm in that place,_

_Every time I hear your name._

_Got someone special in my life;_

_Everyone thinks she'd make a great wife._

_Dad says he thinks she's the one;_

_Reminds him of Mom when she was young,_

_But it's way too soon to be talkin' about rings: don't wanna rush into anything._

Ron smiled. He had met a special girl in college; her name was Maria. She was smart, beautiful, and had a great sense of humor. She could be stern at times, but she had a soft side that Ron loved to see. In some ways, she reminded him of Kim and what could've been.

It was true, though. Mr. Stoppable thought that Maria Steele would make a great wife. But Ron thought it was way too early to be thinking that far into the future.

_She's getting over someone, too,_

_Kinda like me and you._

_And she talks about him every once in a while,_

_And I just nod my head and smile_

The freckle-faced ex-hero remembered when he and Maria had gone out to dinner for the first time. She had told him about her ex, a Hispanic man who went to high school with her. They dated when she was a junior and he was a senior. When he went off to college, she never heard from him again. She had written him a few letters, but he never replied. It turned out that he had met a pretty girl there, and they had gotten married almost immediately. It had broken Maria's heart.

Ron had sympathized with her, telling her about his relationship with Kim. She was startled and truly sorry that such a strong friendship could've been broken off after years of devotion. He agreed.

_'Cause I know exactly what she's goin' through,_

_Yeah, I've been there, too._

_And when the conversation turns to you,_

_I get caught in a "you were the only one for me" kind of thought,_

_And your face is all that I see._

_I know I can't go back when I still go back._

Ron still had moments in his life when he wished things could've been different between he and Kim. But it wasn't. He had Maria now, and that was good enough for him. To Ron, she was perfect.

_And there we are, a point down by the lakeside_

_And I'm back in your arms, about to love for the first time,_

_And that's all it takes, and I'm in that place_

_Every time I hear your name_

Ron's brown eyes gazed at the beautiful sunset. It was so calm today; almost as calm as that day he and Kim went down to Lake Middleton. That was the day he had started loving. Not just crushing; loving. And she had loved him, too.

_So I'm thinkin' about the words I left unsaid._

_(Every time I hear your name)_

Ron cranked up the radio, wanting to catch every word.

_Stop tryin' to change the things I can't change._

_(Every time I hear your name)_

_In my heart I know you're gone, but in my head,_

_I feel rain fallin' right out of the blue sky_

_And it's the fifth of May, and I'm right there starin' in your eyes._

A short, lonely tear made its way down Ron's cheek, tracing a wet track through the dust on his face. He made no move to wipe it away; no one was there to see it.

In his mind's eye, Ron saw Kim as she used to be, her sparkling green eyes so full of innocence and pure joy.

_That's all it takes, and I'm in that place;_

_And there we are, a point down by the lakeside_

_And I'm in your arms, about to love for the first time._

_And I can't explain, but I'm in that place,_

_Every time I hear your name._

Ron looked back on all the times he'd thought about Kim; and whenever he heard her name, he hurt on the inside. And he remembered their trip to Lake Middleton, and everything they had promised each other.

_Every time I hear your name_

_(Every time I hear your name)_

_Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh_

_(Every time I hear your name)_

_Ah ah_

_Every time I hear your name_

Ron turned down the volume as the music came to a close. Who knew country could be so inspiring?

He sighed. Lake Middleton, red sports cars, and red-headed teen heroes. If he lived to be 150, he would _definitely_ never forget that night... or that song.

* * *

A/N: Hope you guys liked this little short. It's my first songfic, so flames will, of course, be accepted.

Disclaimer: _Every Time I Hear Your Name_ is written by Keith Anderson, Jeffrey Steele, and Tom Hambridge.

© EMI April Music, Inc./Romeo Cowboy Music

Song from "Three Chord Country and American Rock & Roll", which is © Arista Nashville/RLG

Produced by John Rich and Jeffrey Steele

I own this work of fiction.


End file.
